Hitbox issues are common in hero shooters, and Marvel Rivals is no exception to this rule, despite its good performance since its launch. Many players have reported issues with overly generous hitboxes. While this helps with landing some shots, it feels frustrating when a Hawkeye kills players without aiming close to them. Surveillance and its sequel continue to have hitbox problemsand hero shooters aren't the only ones who suffer from exaggerated hitboxes. Even PvE titles aren't immune to exaggerated hitboxes.
This raises the question of why hitboxes simply can't be accurate to the size of what's hitting. These issues are technical and can depend on the game engine, with Unreal Engine offering solutions by equating geometry to create simple collision barriers. However, the usual cylindrical and spherical hitboxes that have been used for years are still used to register attacks. Marvel's Rivals problem with hitboxes are easier to diagnose but considerably harder to cure than just making the hitboxes smaller and more accurate, which would normally be the solution.
Marvel Rivals hitboxes don't look symmetrical
Sometimes Hawkeye's arrows can also be logs
If tested on the practice range, players will find that hitboxes are reasonably accurate if they point to a character's left. Players have to hit near a target's head for it to register, aiming to the left of the target. This is the opposite story when aiming to the right of the target. Suddenly, hitboxes look huge compared to the target they representand players will find that aiming to the character's right makes it much easier to hit.
Hawkeye's projectiles range from arrows to logs when aimed from the left to right of the target. This means that if a player is trying to hit an Iron Man or Star Lord with someone like Marvel Rivals' Hawkeye, Helo, Black Widow or anyone else with projectiles fast enough to be close enough to a hit sweep, tracking them from right to left is more likely to make it easier to hit them. Then again, this is very difficult to implement intentionally in live games, especially if players have been conditioned by other FPS hero shooters.
Marvel Rivals' Hitbox Problems Stem From Third-Person
It's what helps the game stand out
It should not be forgotten that, despite the comparison with many other titles with similar mechanics, such as Surveillance or Paladins, Marvel Rivals is a Third-person shooter with over-the-shoulder camerasomething relatively atypical for a hero shooter. While this may seem like a small change, it means that the camera is not directly behind the character players are aiming at, and these characters are always firing slightly to the right despite the projectile passing through the middle of the screen. This causes hitboxes to appear asymmetrical when tested.
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If hitboxes were more accurate to make projectiles hit characters more accurately, this could mean that players aiming to the left of a target see their projectiles pass over the head instead of registering as a hit. Players may have to aim to the right of a target rather than actually at the target just to get a hit if the hitboxes are more accurate. At least for the moment, hitboxes work when aiming left, even if they are very generous when aiming to the right of the target.
Compromises can alleviate Hitbox's worst problems
Limiting One-Shoting Will Help It Look Less Cheap
With everything happening in one Marvel Rivals game and extremely mobile characters like Black Panther and Spider-Man in Marvel Rivals has, the generous and unbalanced hitboxes aren't as big of a problem as they might seem, especially since most characters can't hit enemies with a single shot. Even Black Widow, the cast's sniper, can't kill enemies in one hit, yet Hawkeye and Hela have been causing trouble wherever they go. Reducing Hawkeye's damage, especially with projectile speed and fire rate, can be a way to disguise hitbox issues.
Doctor Strange's flying and shielding abilities make him a great counter to Hela's ultimate, flying into her face and blocking her line of sight until the ult's duration runs out.
In general, balance patches will alleviate most of the issues seen in the game, and while hitboxes may not be fixable because of the game's third-person camera, tweaking things here and there can be a big help. At the moment, Marvel's Rivals squad is incredibly fun to play with, and their kits should be kept as is. Most balance issues are due to very high stats, like Hawkeye's damage and shooting potential or Hela's extreme projectile speed. Characters shouldn't be able to one-hit kill without their ultimates to help hitboxes feel less cheap.